Photos

Fraumünster Abbey (13th to 15th century)Zürich, with windows painted by Marc Chagall (1887-1985)

The main attraction of the Fraumünster is the set of stained-glass windows designed by Marc Chagall in 1970. Best seen in bright morning light, the windows are 10 meters high and each has its own color theme. Chagall may have used the colors symbolically, with blue and green representing the earth and red and yellow representing the heavens.

The left-most of the three east windows is the blue "Jacob" window, which shows the patriarch's wrestling match with an Angel of the Lord and his dream of the ladder full of reddish-colored angels.
On the far right is the yellow "Zion" window, which depicts the End of Days: an angel is blowing his trumpet as the New Jerusalem (with multicolored walls, domes and towers) comes down from the heavens. Below are King David and his mistress Bathsheba. What do they have to do with it? They are the parents of King Solomon, who built the Temple in Jerusalem.
In the center is the green "Christ" window, the largest of all. It begins with a Tree of Jesse (family tree of Jesus) at the bottom. In medieval art, the tree usually sprouts from Jesse's loins; here he stands next to it. At the top of the tree is the Virgin and Child. A jumble of events from Jesus' life in the middle lead to the magnificent scene at the top, which masterfully combines Crucifixion with Ascension. Christ's arms are outstretched as at the Crucifixion, but there is virtually no trace of the cross and he seems to float effortlessly upwards inside a great bubble